All entries

2,660 entries so far, best known first. 2,250 more are on the list to be written. Narrow by region, kind, purpose, practitioner, belief world, occasion or how alive it is.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

RegionSouth Asia Southeast Asia East Asia Central Asia and the Caucasus Middle East North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Europe North America Latin America and the Caribbean Oceania

KindTradition Rite Charm Oracle Substance Being Figure Text Illusion Belief

PurposeProtection Healing Seeing and foretelling Luck and prosperity Love and attraction Cursing and harm Cleansing and purification Speaking with spirits and the dead Change and initiation Binding and oaths Power and authority Wonder and entertainment

WhoShamans Folk healers Priests and ritual specialists Witches, sorcerers and cunning folk Diviners and readers Mediums and the possessed Ceremonial magicians and alchemists Households and ordinary people Stage magicians Scholars and sceptics

BeliefHindu and Tantric Buddhist Jain Muslim and Sufi Jewish Christian Sikh Zoroastrian Shinto and Taoist Indigenous and shamanic African and Afro-diasporic Pagan and Neopagan Esoteric and occult Folk and village custom Secular and stage Other traditions

OccasionWeddings and betrothal Festivals Birth and childhood Death and remembrance Harvest, farming and weather New year Initiation and coming of age Illness and misfortune Journeys and voyages Everyday use

StandingLiving Revived Fading Historical Legendary Performed

OrderBest known A to Z Newest Living first

🇮🇳 IndiaChakraचक्र Meditation points in the subtle body used in Hindu and Buddhist yogaTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living

🇮🇳 India and 5 moreMandalaमण्डल A sacred geometric design used in Indian religions for meditation and spiritual mapping.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇮🇳 India and 4 moreVajrayanaVajrayāna A Buddhist path using rituals and mantras for rapid awakeningTradition · Change and initiation Living

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreNakshatraनक्षत्रम् (Nakṣatram) A system of lunar mansions used in Hindu and Buddhist astrology to map the sky.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreYoginiयोगिनी A female master of yoga and tantra, or a fierce goddess aspect in Indian temples.Tradition · Power and authority · Protection Historical

🇮🇳 India and 5 morePilgrimage A journey to a sacred site for spiritual growth or religious dutyTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreDiyaदीया A small oil lamp used in prayers and festivals across the Indian subcontinentTradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living

🇮🇳 India and 3 moreTantraतन्त्र Esoteric Hindu and Buddhist paths of mantra, ritual and yoga from first-millennium IndiaTradition · Power and authority · Change and initiation Living

🇮🇳 India and 2 morePadmasambhavaཔདྨ་འབྱུང་གནས། A tantric master credited with establishing Buddhism in Tibet and founding the Nyingma school.Figure · Protection · Power and authority Living

🇮🇳 India and 2 moreKalachakraདུས་ཀྱི་འཁོར་ལོ། A Tibetan Buddhist tantric deity and system of yogic time cyclesTradition · Change and initiation · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇮🇳 IndiaNechung Oracleགནས་ཆུང་ཏ་བླ་མ The official prophetic medium and spiritual advisor to Tibet's Dalai LamaOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Living

🇮🇳 IndiaChödགཅོད A Tibetan Buddhist ritual that uses fear and self-offering to sever attachment to the selfTradition · Cursing and harm · Change and initiation Living

🇱🇰 Sri Lanka and 1 moreKataragama templeකතරගම / கதிர்காமம் முருகன் கோயில் A Sri Lankan shrine shared by Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and VeddasTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

🇮🇳 India and 1 moreDeity yoga A Vajrayana meditation on embodying a chosen Buddha figure to realize emptinessTradition · Change and initiation · Power and authority Living

🇮🇳 IndiaGandharvaगन्धर्व Celestial musicians of Indian religions and a form of marriage by consentBeing · Power and authority · Luck and prosperity Living

🇮🇳 IndiaTormaགཏོར་མ Sculpted offerings of flour and butter used in Tibetan Buddhist ritualsTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living 🇳🇵 Nepal and 3 moreGurung ShamanismTamu Cho The ancient shamanic beliefs and rituals of the Gurung people in NepalTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Kataragama temple: Ghostface Buddha, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Chakra: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Mandala: Marion Golsteijn, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Vajrayana: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, CC BY 2.0, source
Nakshatra: Kishorekumar 62, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Yogini: Soumendra Barik, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Pilgrimage: Ali Mansuri, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
Diya: Suyash Dwivedi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Tantra: Ms Sarah Welch, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Deity yoga: Anonymous Unknown author, CC0, source
Kalachakra: Nabin K. Sapkota, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Torma: John Hill, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Nechung Oracle: Christopher Michel, CC BY 2.0, source
Chöd: Christopher J. Fynn, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Gandharva: Biswarup Ganguly, CC BY 3.0, source
Padmasambhava: John Hill, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

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Photo credits on this page

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